Fes Festival of world sacred music

The Lisbon Gregorian Choir (Coro Gregoriano de Lisboa) was founded in 1989 by a group of students, former students and teachers of the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon. This independent group is devoted to the study and performance of Gregorian chant. They now give regular concerts under the direction of Maria Helena Pires de Matos, Professor of Theory of Gregorian Chant at the College of Music in Lisbon. They perform across Portugal, and the choir has given over a hundred concerts in about fifty towns. In particular, they have performed at Lisbonne 94, when Lisbon was the Cultural Capital of Europe, and at Journées de Musique Ancienne given by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 1996.

The group has also toured Japan, Belgium, the Azores, Luxemburg and Switzerland. The first of the three CDs they have recorde was awrded the CHOC prize of Monde de la Musique, and the second won the Diapason d’Or at Diapason magazine.

The group have organised the international Festivals of Gregorian Chant at Tomar in 1999 and 2001. Their latest recording includes the liturgies of the Evangelical Saints of Europe.